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Kathy, (aka "Bessie"), and I began our beekeeping experience in the fall of 2008, when we began a year-long course in beekeeping through the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We got our first package of bees in April of 2009. At the suggestion of our daughter, Jessica, we are logging our beekeeping experience. Hope you find it interesting. It has been interesting, rewarding and entertaining for us as well.

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Summer in Iowa has fully arrived, and with it lots of things blooming and growing. It's a busy time, with many fruits and vegetables coming on and needing picking.
First for the bees, though. We had quite a blow come through last night with a strong cold front bringing 70 mile per hour winds and heavy rain. Needless to say, I was quite happy to see the hives still standing erect after the storm. Bees early this morning were not very active, but at least one hardy worker was busy gathering pollen from the spiderwort.

Other prairie plants are blooming as well. We did not do a burn of the prairie segments this year, and with the late arrival of spring it has taken awhile for the new plants to break through the dead growth but now they are looking lush. The butterfly milkweed is certainly doing its job.
Blueberries are now ripening, about two weeks later than normal for the early varieties. Winter damage has taken its toll and we will probably only see about half our normal crop…